Multiple sources are reporting to RTS that the NCAA will announce a cap of 50% capacity for all championship events moving forward. This will include all Regional and Super Regional Softball sites and the Women’s College World Series coming up in June in Oklahoma City.
RTS in Blacksburg for Weekend ACC Series
RTS will be in Blacksburg starting tomorrow for the ACC Series between Notre Dame and No. 15 ranked Virginia Tech. First pitch in Game 1 of the series between the Fighting Irish and Hokies is set for 6 pm EST at Tech Softball Park. Follow RTS on Twitter @Rounding3rdSB for real-time in-game updates.
Marlins Win Streak at 10 as They Continue No. 1
Virginia Wesleyan (27-3-1) extended their winning streak to 10 games last weekend and followed it by holding on to the top spot in this week’s NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Marlins once again made it unanimous picking up all eight first-place votes.
| Rank | Team | 2021 Record | Points | Previous |
| 1 | Virginia Wesleyan (8) | 27-3-1 | 200 | 1 |
| 2 | Texas Lutheran | 25-4 | 192 | 2 |
| 3 | Eastern Connecticut State | 20-0 | 184 | 5 |
| 4 | East Texas Baptist | 22-3 | 176 | 4 |
| 5 | Linfield | 28-4 | 168 | 3 |
| 6 | Birmingham-Southern | 25-4 | 160 | 6 |
| 7 | DePauw | 21-2 | 152 | 9 |
| 8 | Belhaven | 25-7 | 144 | 7 |
| 9 | Emory & Henry | 21-3 | 136 | 17 |
| T10 | Berry | 23-6 | 128 | 15 |
| Moravian | 12-0 | 128 | 10 | |
| 12 | Salisbury | 19-7 | 109 | 8 |
| 13 | St. John Fisher | 16-2 | 104 | 12 |
| 14 | Christopher Newport | 22-10 | 83 | 11 |
| 15 | Mount Union | 23-5 | 77 | 22 |
| 16 | Wartburg | 21-6 | 73 | 14 |
| T17 | Milwaukee School of Engineering | 23-2 | 61 | 13 |
| Randolph-Macon | 14-7-1 | 61 | 19 | |
| T19 | St. Scholastica | 23-3 | 44 | RV |
| The College of New Jersey | 11-3 | 44 | 18 | |
| 21 | Rowan | 19-5 | 41 | NR |
| T22 | Alvernia | 17-5 | 24 | NR |
| St. Olaf | 13-3 | 24 | NR | |
| 24 | Concordia (Wis.) | 22-4 | 20 | NR |
| T25 | Aurora | 25-3 | 14 | NR |
| Saint Benedict | 17-5 | 14 | 16 |
Others receiving votes: Cortland 10, Transylvania 8, Coe 7, Rochester 6, Kean 5, Misericordia 5, Alfred 3, Mount St. Joseph 2, Southern Maine 1.
Dropped out: Framingham State, Hope, Millikin and Stevenson.
Augustana Remains DII No. 1
After posting three doubleheader sweeps in conference play last weekend, Augustana (27-3) has stayed in the No. 1 spot in this weeks NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Vikings received 15 of 16 first-place votes. No. 5 ranked Indianapolis (31-2) picked up the other vote.
| Rank | School | Points | 2021 Record | Last Poll |
| 1 | Augustana (15) | 399 | 27-3 | 1 |
| 2 | Valdosta State | 383 | 29-3 | 2 |
| 3 | UT Tyler | 358 | 27-5 | t3 |
| 4 | North Georgia | 357 | 25-5 | t3 |
| 5 | Indianapolis (1) | 338 | 31-2 | 5 |
| 6 | Texas A&M-Commerce | 317 | 25-10 | 6 |
| 7 | Lincoln Memorial | 303 | 34-5 | 7 |
| 8 | Rollins | 289 | 14-1 | 8 |
| 9 | Young Harris | 275 | 26-7 | 9 |
| 10 | Oklahoma Christian | 253 | 31-5 | 10 |
| 11 | Concordia Irvine | 224 | 19-8 | 11 |
| 12 | West Texas A&M | 223 | 26-10 | 12 |
| 13 | UAH | 213 | 25-9 | 13 |
| 14 | Grand Valley State | 183 | 26-6 | 14 |
| 15 | Saint Anselm | 173 | 15-3 | 15 |
| 16 | Central Oklahoma | 171 | 27-9 | 16 |
| 17 | Colorado Mesa | 135 | 26-2 | 19 |
| 18 | Minnesota State | 130 | 22-7 | 18 |
| 19 | Auburn Montgomery | 106 | 29-5 | 23 |
| 20 | Winona State | 100 | 23-6 | 21 |
| 21 | Southern Arkansas | 58 | 20-7 | 22 |
| 22 | West Florida | 56 | 26-11 | 20 |
| 23 | Angelo State | 51 | 26-10 | NR |
| 24 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 34 | 24-11 | 17 |
| 25 | Charleston | 18 | 24-6 | NR |
New to Poll: No. 23 Angelo State, No. 25 Charleston
Dropped Out: No. 24 Rogers State, No. 25 Northwest Nazarene
Receiving Votes: Biola (15), Georgian Court (14), Northwest Nazarene (10), Southeastern Oklahoma State (7), Anderson (2), Saint Leo (2), Western Washington (2), Shepherd (1).
UTEP Softball Cited by NCAA
The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has found that the University of Texas at El Paso committed violations within its softball program. The violations occurred between 2016-2019 under former Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. The violations included providing additional practice time or individual workouts to student-athlete exceeding daily and weekly hour limitations, not providing a weekly day off for student-athletes as required by NCAA guidelines, and graduate assistants providing skills instruction to student-athletes during extra workout sessions, regular practices and occasional competitions resulting in the program exceeding its maximum number of coaches allowed. Among the penalties for UTEP were a year of probation, a $5,000 fine, and a one-year show-cause order for Echo-Hawk. It was also announced that Echo-Hawk, now an assistant coach at New Mexico State, will receive a four-week suspension from all coaching activities and from 15% of regular-season contests at any school that employs her moving forward.
OU Undefeated Streak Ended
Down goes Goliath… Georgia has knocked off No. 1 ranked Oklahoma 7-6 in extra innings in Athens. The Sooners were 33-0 going into today’s doubleheader with the No. 21 Bulldogs and had previously looked as if they could run the table.
Berry Retiring From Harding
Harding Coach Phil Berry’s 2021 season will be his last. Berry will be retiring at seasons end after leading the program for the last eight years and compiling a 253-163 record. Harding restarted their program in 2014 and had six winning seasons under his leadership including a 58 win campaign in 2017. The Bison are currently 24-11 this season and 15-9 in Great American Conference play.
Oklahoma Looks Invincible at No. 1 Again
The invincible force moves on. After beating a very good and highly ranked Texas team like they owed them money over the weekend, Oklahoma (33-0) comes in at No. 1 in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll for the eighth straight week. The Sooners once again made it unanimous garnering all 32 first-place votes.
| Rank | School | Points | Record | Last Week |
| 1 | Oklahoma (32) | 800 | 33-0 | 1 |
| 2 | UCLA | 768 | 25-2 | 2 |
| 3 | Florida | 717 | 32-6 | 5 |
| 4 | Washington | 692 | 34-6 | 6 |
| 5 | Alabama | 673 | 33-7 | 3 |
| 6 | Oregon | 613 | 28-8 | 4 |
| 7 | Florida State | 597 | 31-6 | 9 |
| 8 | Arkansas | 564 | 36-5 | 10 |
| 9 | Texas | 544 | 31-6 | 7 |
| 10 | Arizona | 503 | 27-8 | 8 |
| 11 | Oklahoma State | 487 | 35-5 | 11 |
| 12 | Arizona State | 472 | 28-11 | 13 |
| 13 | Louisiana | 371 | 34-7 | 14 |
| 14 | Kentucky | 359 | 30-10 | 12 |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 351 | 28-7 | 15 |
| 16 | Clemson | 331 | 32-4 | 17 |
| 17 | LSU | 303 | 26-14 | 16 |
| 18 | Missouri | 243 | 32-10 | 18 |
| 19 | Tennessee | 226 | 32-7 | 19 |
| 20 | Michigan | 164 | 21-4 | 22 |
| 21 | Georgia | 148 | 27-11 | 20 |
| 22 | Duke | 117 | 30-10 | 21 |
| 23 | Wichita State | 114 | 32-5-1 | 25 |
| 24 | Minnesota | 87 | 22-6 | 24 |
| t25 | James Madison | 41 | 22-1 | RV |
| t25 | UCF | 41 | 30-12-1 | 23 |
New to Poll: t-No. 25 James Madison
Dropped Out: None.
Receiving Votes: Auburn (23), Fresno State (12), Northwestern (11), Miami University (10), Texas state (9), Liberty (4), BYU (2), Western Kentucky (2), Ole Miss (1).
Babinski Picks Up Win No. 600
Indiana Wesleyan Coach Steve Babinski recently picked up his 600th career coaching victory. The milestone came in a doubleheader sweep of Goshen. Babinski has coached IWU since 2012 after coaching at MidAmerica Nazarene from 2005-2011. The Wildcats are currently 34-6 on the season and ranked No. 10 in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll.
Furman Suspends King
Sources have confirmed to RTS that Furman Coach Wally King has been put on suspension by the institute. King did not make the trip with the squad to East Tennessee State this weekend for their Southern Conference Series. He is in his third season as head coach of the Paladins.